This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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SCRO review inspection
22/05/2003
The Scottish Criminal Record Office (SCRO) has
demonstrated progress in its work according to a report
published today by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of
Constabulary (HMIC).
The report of the Review Inspection focuses on the
actions taken by SCRO in response to two inspections: the
HMIC Primary Inspection conducted in May 2000 of its
Fingerprint Bureau, (now the Scottish Fingerprint Service),
and the Primary Inspection of SCRO conducted in December
2000.
SCRO Fingerprint Bureau Primary Inspection:
The report concludes that the SCRO has successfully met
17 of the 25 recommendations and 15 of the 20 suggestions
concerning structure, processes and resources, leadership
and people management, training standards and
responsibility, contained within the SCRO Fingerprint
Bureau Primary Inspection Report.
Three key issues emerge from the eight recommendations
and five suggestions outstanding: Resourcing, Benchmarking
and Openness. Prompt implementation of optimum staffing
levels was prevented due in part to the lack of skilled
fingerprint experts in the employment market. HMIC also
believe that benchmarking would contribute to a more open
and transparent culture within the organisation.
HMIC is satisfied that all the outstanding
recommendations are being progressed and welcomes the
progress made within SCRO. These issues will be a feature
of the next primary Inspection of SCRO in 2004.
Primary Inspection of SCRO:
The 17 recommendations and five suggestions contained
within the Primary Inspection Report of SCRO focused mainly
on corporate issues associated with financial processes,
performance and human resource management. Each of these
areas has now been addressed and SCRO continues to operate
effectively and efficiently, having established systems,
recruited expertise and developed collaborative working to
service the organisation's needs.
HMIC acknowledges the enormous changes in the
organisation since the primary Inspection of SCRO in 2000
generated by a number of pressures including:
- The recommendations arising from the HMIC
inspection of the Fingerprint
Bureau
- The continuing development of the Integration of
the Scottish Criminal
Justice Information Systems
- The development of Disclosure Scotland
- The move to new premises at Pacific Quay,
Glasgow.
Following a review of the inspection process the HMIC
regime can be summarised as follows:
(i) A Primary Inspection of each police force and common
police service is made every 5 years. A report is published
and placed on the HMIC website.
(ii) In the intervening years, two 18 month Review
Inspections will take place. These reports are presented to
the Executive Committee of SCRO and a copy posted on the
HMIC website.
(iii) The balance of HMIC inspections has moved from
regular inspections of individual forces to thematic
inspections which focus on specific issues across all
forces.
This report will be put before the Executive Committee
and is published on the HMIC website
www.scotland.gov.uk/hmic. For anyone seeking a copy of the
Report but does not have access to the website via the
internet, a hard copy is available from either: 1) HMIC, St
Andrew's House, regent Road, EDINBURGH, EH1 3DG. or 2) SCRO
1 Pacific Quay, Glasgow G51 1EA.